What Lurks Below
by FlareX3
Summary: A city in the mountains holds more than just a rebellion. Sequel to the Inside War. Note, though the last chapter ends with some finality, the story isn't finished. I just don't really want to write anymore, that's all.
1. The Begining

What Lurks Below

Jay switched off his com-link, the message received.

"Did you get that Ben?" Jay asked, turning to the sweating wolverine crouched next to him. Despite several burn holes in his armor and an open wound on his shoulder he smiled, the light of battle burning in his eyes.

"Don't worry, I got it. Just worry about not screwing up your part."

"Yeah right." Both exchanged a small smile before turning back to the task at hand. Mentally Jay counted down, three… two… one! He vaulted over the supply crate stack he had been using for cover. Immediately a volley of blaster shots greeted him. Shots flew by him, several shots hitting him in the chest and one grazed his shoulder. Ignoring these trivial wounds he took aim with his dual blasters. He didn't have to aim, the disorganized mob of gangsters was an easy target and due to the cramped conditions of the room they couldn't bring all their weapons to bear. Just a little more time Jay thought as more blaster fire hit him. A shot nailed him right in the head and he reeled back over the crates, stunned. He lay on his back gasping for breath with a grinning wolverine over him.

"Nice one."

"Shut up." Jay managed to gasp. "You're almost on." Jay heard the smashing of metal.

"My turn." Ben burst from hiding, his blaster spitting fiery death as he charged forward, his dirk gripped tightly in his right hand. The gangsters didn't even turn towards him, having their own problem within their ranks. A chimp bristling with all sorts of daggers and throwing knives had dropped from the grate above them. Slashing with the fury of a tornado he had cut a bloody swathe within the mob. Ben crashed into them, bring his own dirk into the fray. A few put up a valiant fight, attempting to beat them to death with their guns only to have them hacked to pieces. The fight was short lived. Jay ambled over to his friends, all three of them were breathing hard but they all burst out laughing.

"Nice job Scott, they never knew what hit 'em"

"Next time, please hurry so I don't have to take so much punishment."

"Ah, quit complaining Jay, you've suffered worse." The three surveyed the room around them, gore as well as sear marks littered the walls. At least a dozen bodies lay scattered across the floor, their blood pooling around them. "Another job done then eh guys?"

"Not yet, we still have to find their leader."

"No we don't, I found him." Ben said, kicking over the body of a dead jaguar. "Looks like he was hiding waaay in back. They're all cowards you know."

"Yeah, I know…" Jay replied.

It had been over a year since they had defeated the Black Skull gang. Their reputation had sky rocketed as the news spread through out Corneria. Their fame grew as they brought down more criminals. In honor of their victory over the Black Skull and in honor of their fallen comrade they used a black skull with a sword through it as their insignia and had taken up the name of 'Crusaders'. They now live inside a military base, compliments of the Corneria government. Though their lives were continually put in peril they enjoyed cleaning the scum out of Corneria.

Ben yawned, the movie he was watching was getting boring. He turned to his companions, Jay was reading a book in the far corner while Scott was playing with a stray string in the carpet.

"You guys wanna do anything tonight?" Jay and Scott looked up from their tasks.

"Like what?" Jay asked.

"Dunno, but anything's better than watching this crap." Jay opened his mouth to reply but the communicator cut him off. An image of General Pepper appeared on screen.

"Good evening."

"Hey, what's up?" The General's features twisted into a small smile.

"It would be nice if you showed some respect to my authority Ben."

"Oh, okay. What's up sir?"

"I have another job for you."

"What is it, another gang or just a criminal?" Scott asked.

"Neither, a rebellion has started up in the city of Dhurma and we need your help."

"We're not an army, we can't fight a war for you," Jay interrupted.

"I wasn't asking you to. I need you for an assassination mission."

"Who, where, and when?"

"You will receive transport to Dhurma so you don't have to worry about finding it. You will be assassinating their leader, I believe he goes by the name Ryan Greene." A picture came up next to the General showing a gorilla. Though he did not look threatening there was something in his look that made you want to shiver. "And to answer you question to when the answer is as soon as possible. Are you in?"

"Aren't we always?"

"Good, you will be briefed on the way." The screen went blank.

"Got your wish Ben," Scott said cheerfully.

"Yes, you did but keep in mind there is an old saying, 'be careful what you wish for.'"

"You know Jay, you act more like an old woman with all your words of caution and _wisdom_. Will you relax for _once_?"

"I'll relax when you stop being reckless and Scott stops being an idiot."

"Say what?" Scott said with a mock look of hurt on his face.

"Okay then, I'll stop being so reckless when hell freezes over."

"I'll be waiting then."

The ship rocked violently as they hit another air pocket. They had been in the air a good three hours now and they were wondering when they were going to get instructions. A door opened and a husky dressed in the Cornerian Air Force uniform came in.

"Finally, what were you doing back there all this time anyway, sleeping?"

"Quiet Ben, he's our superior."

"Well I was just asking." The husky cleared his throat.

"Well then, um, shall we get to business?" He sat down in one of the spare seats. "Dhurma is located in a mountainous region. It is nearly covered on all sides by sheer cliffs making the only ground access point the south pass. An air assault is nearly impossible with all the anti-aircraft guns that line the cities walls. A ground assault would be nearly as bad, since the force would be going uphill into the teeth of their guns. We have the pass surrounded and we've been trying to starve them out for quite some time but they won't give up but our men's morale will. If we can break the enemy's morale they might surrender, that's where you come in. You will move under the cover of night, find and kill Ryan Greene and any other personnel you find important. If you succeed you will be paid the sum of one hundred thousand credits. Are their any questions?"

"Yeah, I got one." Scott stated. "How can you talk so much and never stutter or get thirsty or something?"

"Scott."

"Yeah?"

"Shut up."

"Fifteen minutes until we reach our destination," the pilot said over the com-link.

"Be ready, you have…" the husky checked his watch, "three hours to prepare yourselves before night hits."

"Don't worry, we have everything ready to go." The husky gave a nod before getting up and returning to where he came.

Jay stared up at the city of Dhurma. It's reinforced steel walls were lined with turrets and was patrolled ceaselessly by the rebels. These guys weren't like the ragtag cowards they were used to fighting. They all looked ready to die for their cause at a moments notice. Jay looked to the Cornerian army, they looked tired and demoralized. No wonder they were called in. The sun had set an hour ago and the darkness had deepened considerably. Ben appeared next to him, a look of excitement on his face.

"A little too calm before a battle don't you think Ben?"

"Please Jay, please, whatever you say don't give me another 'be careful' lectures it's really getting old."

"Actually I was going to ask you if you wanted to go now."

"Oh. Well then yeah."

"Where's Scott?" Ben pointed out in the distance to a small cluster of rocks. It was only thirty yards away from the city walls. "You're kidding."

"No, he wanted to scout the area out to check for any possible entrances. Let's get going." When they reached the rock cluster Scott greeted them.

"Hey, glad you can make it. This wall is surrounded by patrols, turrets, searchlights, their defense is almost perfect."

"Almost?" Jay asked quizzically. Scott gave a grin of superiority.

"Yes, almost. Look, at the part of the wall, by the cliff side, the guards there are getting lax in their duties, they chat together instead of keeping watch. We will exploit that weakness."

"How will we get up? The walls are too high for us to jump."

"Trust me."

"Yeah right, trust you?"

"You want to get in or not, my plan is the best bet." With that Scott began moving stealthily towards to walls. Jay gave a sigh as Ben got up and followed. And so goes another one of our greatest tacticians, the man who watches paint dry, thought Jay as he got up and followed as well. They had made it within ten yards of their target, the men to busy in their conversation to notice the three dark silhouettes approaching.

"Piece of cake." Scott whispered to Jay when an alarm went off.

"Damn, how the hell did that happen?" Ben yelled as they made a mad dash the rest of the way.

"Must have had motion sensors, oops."

"Oops? Damn it we can't afford mess ups like this."

"Like you gave any other suggestions." They had reached the wall. "Here follow me." Scott ran to the area where the wall and cliff side intersected. He jumped from wall to cliff side bringing himself closer to the end of the wall.

"He thinks we can do that?" Ben yelled exasperated. Jay gave no response as he attempted the dangerous stunt. Cursing, Ben followed suit only to tumble back down.

"Damn!" A bullet thudded next to his head. "Double damn!" he yelled as he got back up and tried again.


	2. Part 2

Scott landed lightly on the walls battlements, Jay following shortly after and Ben scrambling for dear life came up moments later.

"You're all ok then, good." Scott said. Ben looked like he was about the strangle Scott and then throw him over the wall but a shot interrupted him. They all ducked as more shots came speeding towards them. Even in the night a stray shot was bound to hit them eventually.

"Is there any way out? We have to-damn!" Ben cursed as a stray blaster shot nicked his ear.

"That's why you wear a helmet."

"Shut it Jay."

"Yeah, we're not cowards like you." Another shot whizzed by, dangerously close to Scott's head. Scott gave a yelp and flattened himself further on the ground.

"Yeah, real brave Scott. Look, I see the stairs, I'm the only one with full armor, I'll take the lead." Jay got up, his two blasters spitting death into the ranks of the oncoming rebels. Scott and Ben followed hastily as Jay cut a path through for them. "Hurry, get down the stairs!" Scott was down first, moving swiftly down the steps, Ben however stayed. "What the hell are you doing?" Jay yelled in frustration.

"Helping, duh." Ben replied firing a shot into a rebel.

"Get the hell down there!" Jay yelled, shoving Ben down nearly causing him to stumble. Jay began moving, a blaster shot in the chest had winded him and his head was still reeling from another. He nearly tumbled when he reached the bottom but Ben caught him.

"And you say you have good balance."

"Shut the-"

"Come on, let's go!" Scott urged, thankful for the cover of night. The three rushed towards the nearest building, bullets and harsh words hurled at them from the ramparts. The three ducked behind southeast corner of the building, their breathing coming in ragged breaths.

"Well that was a bucket load of fun. Scott you have to lead us more often." Ben said happily.

"No, Scott better head to an insane asylum. What was that?"

"How was I supposed to know about motion sensors?" Jay looked like he was about to explode. He stuttered to say something, an apology or cuss word Scott didn't know but he never found out. Jay let out a sigh.

"Let's go find some cover then. They'll swarm this place in a few minutes."

"I have an idea." Scott said brightly. "You guys wanna listen to it?"

"Hell no!"

"Hell yeah!"

"Two to one, you lose Jay." If looks could kill Ben and Scott would be dead ten time over but alas they cannot. "Go for it Scott."

"The fire escape," Scott said pointing. "We'll use it to get to the top and hop from building to building. They can't follow us everywhere."

"Scott, this place is a city, of course they'd have enough men to search every building, alleyway, and rooftop."

"Then we do this fast." Scott began swiftly ascending the stairs, his movements silent and fluid.

"Man, I wish I could do that," Ben said, awe in his voice.

"Ben, if you had your way with things half this planet would be dead."

"And what about the other half?"

"Don't ask me, it's your wish."

"But I never wished for that." Jay didn't respond as he followed Scott up. The sounds of running footsteps and cursing drew closer. Ben clambered up the stairs after his friends.

Scott looked down from the rooftop. He could dimly see figures fanning out, searching the area for them. Already they had a squad of rebels heading up the fire escape to the roof. Scott checked the surrounding buildings. All of them looked the same to him.

"So?"

"So what?" Scott asked quizzically.

"So where to now oh great one?"

"Why don't you tell me Jay. Sometimes I think you're worst than Ben."

"He is worst then me."

"Let's get to business shall we? Which building would be their headquarters?"

"How the hell should I know?"

"Scott, any ideas since Ben here is to dumb to come up with one?"

"Yeah, search all of them."

"Well that's a damn stupid idea," Ben said. "I like it."

"That would take all night."

"Yes, but it will keep us moving making us a harder target."

"We'd be exhausted by morning."

"Not if we pace ourselves. If we take breaks every now and then we'd be okay."

"Why the hell are you our plan maker now anyway? I mean geez, you can't even beat Ben in chess."

"Hey, I'm not that stupid. I bet you if I had went to school further than the first grade I would have been only held back-" Ben begins counting his fingers. "What comes after ten?" The sounds of footsteps drew closer.

"Hey, they finally made it up."

"Into cover, now!" Jay said. The three looked around, no cover.

"Well what now?" Ben asked, not a hint of worry in his voice. Jay gave no reply but Scott began creeping towards the fire escape, two daggers drawn. The first rebel appeared, a fox by the looks of him. He never even saw the dagger puncture his throat. The rebels recovered quickly. Despite being ambushed they showed no fear only hate. They launched themselves at Scott, dropping their guns and drawing their combat knives. Jay could only watch as Ben rushed to help Scott who was in danger of being overwhelmed by the six remaining rebels. Despite Scott's skills with his blades he couldn't bring one down. He lashed out with one dagger only to find in parried but before he could attack again he was forced to dodge. He soon found himself only ducking and weaving, making sure his head wasn't lopped off. Then Ben crashed into them. Though Scott fought with speed and grace Ben fought with sheer aggression. The unfortunate rebel he chose as a target found his head sliced off. Moving with what seemed an impossible efficiency the two rebels broke from the fight with Scott and assaulted Ben.

Scott ducked another blow, slicing upwards with a dagger only to find it slicing through air. Scott spotted a glint of metal in the corner of his eye and brought up his other blade to block it. Despite his grace and speed he could not avoid three attacks at once and he felt a searing pain as a knife imbedded itself in the weak spot in his armor where it joined his arm with his body. Scott twisted, pulling the still imbedded knife from his assailant in the same move. He lashed out with his foot, catching the rebel in the side of the face. The rebel swayed, his balance lost, before he tumbled over the edge of the building.

Ben hacked like a madman, never easing off his attack. Despite his strength he only found each of his attacks blocked by a mere dagger. His second assailant launched himself at Ben. Ben swayed aside but not quick enough, the knife's edge skimming across his face. Jay's right for once, he thought, I should wear a helmet. The momentum of the rebel's attack sent him forward far enough for Ben to be able to elbow him. The rebel's body armor prevented any harm but sent him far enough from Ben for Jay to get a clear shot. The rebel crumpled to the ground, now only a headless corpse. Ben slashed horizontally with all his strength, knocking the blade from the rebel's hand. Immediately the rebel got into a fighter's stance, ready for the next onslaught. Ben merely backed up and another shot from Jay flew true, nailing the rebel.

Scott swept the feet from under one of his opponents. His attacker landed with a thud onto the ground. Before he could recover Scott drove his dagger through the rebel's skull. The second rebel gave a yell before launching himself at Scott, knife raised to deliver a killing blow to the head. Scott spun and launched his second dagger into the rebel's throat. Scott gave a sigh of relief, the last of his opponents gone.

The sounds of battle did not go unnoticed and more rebels began moving up the fire escape.

"Come on, let's move!"

"Which building though?"

"Who the hell cares Jay?" and with that Ben launched himself onto the rooftop of a neighboring building. Jay made to follow but Scott stopped him.

"Something isn't right. How can they be this good in combat?"

"Sore because you couldn't top them in knife play?" Jay asked, his smirk unseen, hidden by his helmet.

"First, of all I beat them, second, it just feels weird you know?"

"Scott I'm usually the pessimist. Leave it to me to kill your spirits."

"Like you ever could."

"Yeah I can, remember that one time I made you cry."

"That was in kindergarten."

"No, I mean last month, remember?"

"Um… no…"

"Oh come on you know. We were talking about how-"

"Let's move before the rebels kill us," Scott said quickly changing the subject as well as pulling out the knife in his side.

"Right." Jay and Scott made the jump. Jay landing clumsily onto the next rooftop while Scott landed lightly. Man, I wish I could do what Scott does too, Jay thought.


	3. Surrender

Jay gave a sigh. The had been up for quite awhile already and the entire team was exhausted. Scott's _brilliant_ plan, though it kept them undetected, left them dead tired. Scott's prediction of having a chance to rest didn't come true as the ruthless rebels kept up their search. No place was left out, every square inch of the city searched and searched again by patrols. The three friends currently resided in an air vent, though they knew they couldn't stay long.

"Nice plan Scott," Ben said, keeping his voice low.

"Hey, you said you liked it," the chimp responded, stifling a yawn.

"Ben's very fickle about everything."

"Am not." The three immediately quieted as the sound of footsteps approached from below. The footsteps eventually began to fade and disappeared all together.

"We'll never be able to reach our goal at this rate."

"Let's just wait until night, we can move then."

"Scott, we spent most of last night dodging patrols on the streets, rooftops, even sewers. They have the city covered."

"Perhaps the guards will ease up a bit, they still have a city to defend."

"Like it matters. I say we just go out and cut our way through 'em, you know, like the old days."

"Won't work."

"Definitely."

"Fine then, you guys go come up with your little strategies, I'm going to get some sleep." The wolverine propped himself up as comfortably as he could in the cramped conditions and immediately drifted off to sleep.

"I hope he doesn't snore." Scott said, eyeing their companion worriedly.

"He doesn't. So we wait until nightfall?"

"Yeah."

"How will we find our target though? We have the entire city to search plus we have to dodge patrols."

"Why don't we just follow a patrol for awhile, they'll eventually have to head back to base."

"They could have a number of bases all over the city."

"Let's work with what we have for know."

"Which, unfortunately, is not enough." Jay looked towards Ben who was sleeping well despite their predicament. "You should get some sleep Scott, I'll be first watch."

"No, it's okay Jay, I'm not sleepy. You'll need your rest though. Relax for a bit. We have at least a six hour wait."

"Nice." Jay said sarcastically as he attempted to lie down.

"Do you snore?"

"Dunno, you tell me." Jay said as his eyes closed and he drifted off as well, his exhaustion finally too much. Scott looked at his companions, knowing that the price of failure was too high. Scott sat there replaying the night's event through his mind.

"How can rebels be this well trained and armed?" he muttered to himself. "This must have been planned years in advanced. How else can troops fight with such efficiency and discipline?" Scott sat there in the darkness of the vent, thinking harder than he possibly ever had. To bad for Scott that thinking hurt his head.

Scott opened his eyes, only the darkness of the vent greeted him. He cursed himself for nodding off before making sure the perimeter was still secure. Jay and Ben were still sleeping soundly, their breathing calm and methodic. Scott silently crawled over to a shaft to peer down. The corridor was silent, there were no windows nearby so he could not tell what time it was. He crawled over to Jay and shook him slightly.

"Jay, Jay get up." Jay stirred slightly.

"Scott? What time is it?"

"You tell me." Jay propped himself up on one arm.

"Let's wake Ben and find out then." Jay shook the sleeping wolverine. Ben bolted upright, his face that of shock and fury.

"Get the f-" Jay quickly put his hand over his friend's mouth.

"Sshhh, do you want us to get caught?" Ben blinked, his eyes adjusting to the darkness. Jay pulled back his hand when he felt Ben was calm.

"Dinner?" he asked hopefully.

"Sorry bud, not this time."

"Damn."

"Would you two hurry up," Scott called over to them.

"Shut the hell up Scott," Ben retorted before moving towards their companion, Jay following slightly behind.

"Look, there are no guards, the corridor is empty."

"Well then, let's move." Jay silently eased off the covering of the shaft before dropping down as silently as he could onto the tiled floor. Scott came after him followed by Ben.

"Where is everybody," Scott said silently to himself, "I was sure we would have been caught."

"What was that?"

"I accidentally… uh… dozed off while on guard duty."

"You stupid son of a-"

"Come on, enough of this. Let's get going before we get caught."

"Fine Jay, but next time he does this I'm kicking his ass." The three crept silently along but met no resistance. There was not a sound in the place except their own worried breathing. "Something ain't right." After traversing the silent halls for what seemed like ages they found stairs leading up to the roof. They emerged from the building into a world of darkness. The night sky was starless and the moon was nowhere to be seen. Their only light was what was shining through the building windows. Jay crept over the side of the roof and peered down. The whole city seemed devoid of life, as if nothing ever happened. Ben appeared next to him. "Are the guards still at the walls?"

"I can't tell, they should be unless the army already took the city."

"Don't think so, no sign of battle."

"Then what?"

"Don't ask me." Scott came up on the other side of Jay.

"Any ideas?"

"Oh no, I'm not following your plans anymore," said Ben, backing away.

"Fine, you guys come up with something."

"I say we go down there and find out what's wrong."

"And risk walking into a fire fight?"

"Yeah."

"That's suicidal Ben!"

"So?"

"Scott?" Jay asked, a pleading tone in his voice.

"What? You're asking _him_?"

"At least his plans aren't suicidal."

"Which takes the fun out of everything."

"Sorry Jay, drawing a blank."

"Like always," Ben muttered under his breath.

"Fine then, how about this plan? Let's do a reconnaissance run. We separate to cover more ground and meet back here in roughly fifteen minutes. Avoid all direct contact with the enemy _Ben_."

"What?" Ben asked with what he thought was an innocent look on his face. Jay merely shook his head.

"If you get cornered, fire a shot into the air and we'll find you. Okay let's move." With that Jay took a running start before leaping onto an opposing building. Scott followed suit, landing lightly onto the roof of another.

"I'm not doing that, moving on the ground will be more fun," Ben said to himself before turning back towards the stairs.

Jay had only covered three buildings and already his breath was coming in ragged gasps. Their little adventure last night still had him tired and their rest, despite its length, did little to relieve the fatigue. So far, the city was as silent as a graveyard. The rebels were nowhere to be seen. Jay began wondering if they were fighting outside the city, with the Cornerian Army. Jay spared a glance over his shoulder into the distance. Though he could not see very well through the darkness, he could tell there was no battle, anyone could except maybe a blind man. He leapt over to another building, just as devoid of life as the one he just left, there was nothing.

Scott was moving swiftly from building to building, paying no heed to them. His only concern was what was happening below. He scanned for life, anything. Only silence and darkness greeted him. Scott stopped, his breathing hard, but he could still go on. He glanced at the wall. Unlike Jay, Scott had moved closer and closer. There it was, the only sign of other life he had seen in awhile. The guards were still at their stations, but they stood stock-still. Silent and ominous they stood like statues at their station. Scott pondered this for a moment before turning away and continuing his search.

Ben walked casually through the streets. He felt no fear or worry about he situation. Nobody was home and for all he cared the battle was won. Ben glanced around at the eerily empty streets. Office buildings, stores, all of them empty of life but the lights still shone through. He was eyeing some guns through a window of a store when the sound of splashing floated up to his ear. Pulling his out his blaster and dirk in a practiced, fluid motion, he turned to face any assailant. There wasn't a soul on the entire block Ben realized. He looked towards a sewer lid nearby. He walked over and peered into the many holes of the sewer lid but couldn't make out a figure in the impenetrable darkness. But the splashing continued on and on and it seemed there was an entire army below him. There wasn't a soul on the streets other than him but there was a hell of a lot below them. This was his chance to fight but he had to signal his allies. Firing a blaster shot with some many enemies nearby would prove fatal and waiting to meet back would be to slow or so Ben thought. An idea flashed into his mind.

"Damn, I'm brilliant," he thought before quickly pulling the sewer lid free.

"What the hell?" came a curse from below. Ben immediately reached into his pouch and pulled out three grenades. Activating all three of them he dropped them simultaneously into the sewer below before running clear of the blast radius.

"Damn it, what the hell is that?" There was a pause followed by, "GRE-!" as the grenades detonated, causing part of the street to crumble below.

"Yup, I'm good," Ben thought as screams of pain and bitter curses floated up from the gaping hole in the street.

"What in the name of holy sandwiches was that?" exclaimed Scott startled, spinning around to try to find the source of the noise. On a distant roof a certain dingo was seething.

"Ben…" Jay said, imagining what horrific torture he would inflict on his friend. He pushed aside the thoughts and told himself,

"Later…" before jumping from roof to roof towards the explosion.

Scott was first to arrive, his natural agility ensured this. Looking down below him, he found Ben pinned behind a dumpster in an alleyway as angry rebels standing near a gaping hole in the street rained blaster fire on him. Scott couldn't help but grin as Ben, despite the immediate danger was laughing and tossing insults at the cultists every time he would burst from cover and take a shot. He saw a figure land on the rooftop of a building on the opposite side of the street. Though he could not make him out very well, Scott already knew it was Jay. Screams of surprise and hatred erupted from the ranks of the rebels as Jay fired down mercilessly at them with his twin blasters. Without hesitation half the remaining rebels turned to face Jay while the other half advanced on Ben's position. A fatal mistake! As they neared the alleyway Scott twirled his blades in anticipation. Once more Ben burst from cover only to duck back behind the dumpster, surprised to see the rebels approaching raining fiery death upon him. They passed into the alleyway, it was time. Scott leapt from the roof, cushioning his descent by placing his feet against the walls of the alleyway, which, of course, hurt. Scott grimaced but his jump had gone unnoticed as the rebels continued their relentless assault. Scott, now close enough to the ground dropped down from his position. He landed onto a rebel, a raven by the looks of him, and Scott felt bone snap as he pressed all of his weight on the rebel's neck. Before the others could respond Scott was among them, a whirlwind of bladed death. In a matter of seconds the group of rebels were dead or dying on the floor, unable to bring their own weapons into play. Ben rose from behind the dumpster, or what remained of it at least.

"I coulda taken 'em."

"Don't be a moron."

"You're one to talk." The sounds of battle brought their attention back to their friend who was having a desperate fire fight with the remaining rebels.

"Let's go moron."

"Right behind asshole." As silent wraiths they moved to assist their friend, their approach masked by the gunfire. Ben's dirk flashed as he swung horizontally, decapitating an unlucky husky. Without delay, the rebel next to the husky turned towards Ben, dropping his gun and drawing a combat knife. Ben knew he couldn't win in close combat so he backed up a bit, aiming his blaster at the rebel's head. "Idiot, using a knife in a gunfight." Ben pulled the trigger and the rebel's head blew apart in a red explosion. Scott was cutting through their ranks with unnatural speed, making sure they couldn't bring their guns to bear or their blades into play. The battle was short lived and as soon as Ben and Scott were done sheathing their weapons Jay was already striding towards Ben.

"You stupid… stupid… argh!" Jay threw his hands up in frustration.

"What's a matter Jay, can't think of an insult?" Ben asked mockingly. In response Jay punched Ben square in the face. Ben staggered back a few steps before asking irritated, "What the hell?" Jay knew that Ben was unhurt, it took more than that to even make Ben cry out in pain but it got the message across.

"You just gave away our location, for all we know all the rebels could be coming towards this location at this very moment."

"Then we'll move, I mean it is a big city isn't?"

"It's not the point! Reckless behavior like that will only get us killed."

"Uh guys."

"Oh come on Jay, we're still here aren't we?"

"Guys…"

"Yes and thank goodness to that. But think Ben, use your head just this once, what if one of use were injured or died, how would you live with yourself?"

"Guys!"

"Damn it, what is it?" Jay and Ben both yelled simultaneously, turning to face Scott only to find that more than a dozen gun barrels were pointed at them.

"I was trying to tell you that," Scott cleared his throat, "we're surrounded."

"Don't worry," Ben whispered. "Just follow my lead."

"Fine."

"Sure thing."

"We surrender, we surrender." Ben said, dropping his weapons. The others followed suit.

"Damn great plan Ben."

"Yes Ben, you truly are a master tactician."

"Scott, I was being sarcastic you imbecile."

"Oh…"


End file.
